Machine Tool Sales Online

23/06/2024

Yesterday went really well for the Loughborough University - MACH Machine Tools’ Team Tetra at the Red Bull Soapbox Challenge in London….

Our driver, Magnus made it all the way to the bottom of the course, and that’s no mean feat!! Yes we had the Tetris blocks slowly falling off the car as he went down the hill and over the jumps, which made for a comedic performance, especially, when he punched the last block off at the bottom of the hill!! Great fun all day!!

We’re still not sure what place we came in the race, but we did really well and are very proud of ourselves!!

Keep an eye on Dave TV, where the whole race will be broadcast this week….

Ends…

22/06/2024

And while MACH Machine Tools’ sponsored Red Bull Soap Box Team, “Tetra”, are throwing themselves down the hill at Alexandra Palace in London today, (22nd June), The beautiful David Appleby built Triumph TR7 V8, also sponsored by MACH, is at the other end of the country…“Piloted” by Mark Higgins, who’s smashing the Argyll Rally at their first visit there…Why did we say “Piloted”, well, take a look at the following pictures!

We’ll keep you posted on how the MACH Teams do this weekend. Needless to say, it’s great to be part of all this!!

22/06/2024

Have you heard about Red Bull’s Soap Box Challenge??? Then Read on…

MACH Machine Tools is delighted to announce its sponsorship of a group of 4 students from Loughborough University in this years Red Bull Soap Box Challenge.

“Team Tetra” has designed and built a steel space frame chassis Soap Box that’s covered in colourful “Tetris” style blocks. The team is led by Nyah Warner (a Product Design Engineering Student), assisted by Magnus Knight (an Industrial Design Student and Soap Box Driver), Jacob Turner (Graphic Design Student and Co Pilot) and Luke Gotts (Civil Engineering Student and Chief Engineer on this project). Nyah told us that, “Despite each of us studying different subjects, a great team emerged when we united our skills and knowledge. We’ve learnt and truly believe in the power of multidisciplinary collaboration. We want to share the importance of this within design teams that will hopefully inspire younger generations. This Soap Box looks great, its really strong and its fast too, so we’re really confident!”

David Andrew from MACH Machine Tools, and The Vigilance Groups’ Managing Director said, “We were inspired by this Group of Students…Sponsoring them both technically and financially fits perfectly with our Educational Sponsorship Programme that we’ve been rolling out over the past 4 years.” Talking about the race he concluded, “We’re all really looking forward to seeing how we do in the race. The Red Bull competition is always a very lively Global event…this year it’s in the UK too, at Alexandra Palace in London on Saturday the 22nd June 2024. It’s also being televised on Red Bull TV at 6PM on Saturday, so tune in and have a watch! Its great viewing!“

Ends

22/06/2024

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/have-you-heard-red-bulls-soap-box-challenge-read-eczkc?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios&utm_campaign=share_via

10/05/2024

What are you doing this weekend??Something as cool as this??

The DAE Engineering Triumph TR8 “Tony Pond” recreation, with MACH Machine Tools as Technical Partners, is on the Isle of Man competing in the Manx Rally, with rally legend Mark Higgins behind the wheel and Carl Williamson as co driver…

Commenting today, Dave Appleby said, “We’ve been busy since the RAC Rally building this tarmac spec’d version of the car, and it seems to suit Mark too…he got a 2nd in class at the Severn Valley a couple of weeks ago, so it looks like we’ll be competitive this weekend…”

It’s a journey of nostalgia for Mark, who was on the Island 44 years ago as a young lad, watching his father compete in the Manx, the same year that Tony Pond won the event in his factory Triumph TR8, a car built Dave Appleby and the team at Rover SV Division in the 80’s….so a lovely nod back to the past for the team, the car and the driver!

We’ll keep you posted on how it’s going.

03/05/2024

Just arrived in our Bristol Showroom!

An immaculate HAAS ST15 with tailstock, tool setter, parts catcher & swarf conveyor. Ready for demo in the Bristol showroom.

19/04/2024

From an immaculate and busy stand, to all broken down and packed up in just a few hours!…but what a week for us it was at MACH Machine Tools!

298 solid enquiries, 9 machine orders, with 16 enquires rated as 100% chance of writing the business plus a partnership agreement signed with a training provider in the UK too! Not bad eh? It doesn’t get much better than that!

Thank you to each and every person that came to see us, we loved showing you around our products, chatting to you and hearing about your plans and how we can help you achieve them.

Final note must go to our guys, both here and back at base…it was great sharing the buzz of the show with you all, we had fun, lots of laughs and worked hard too…thanks to you all, we couldn’t do this without you.

What a great team we have!

See you all soon!

17/03/2024

Many of you will know just how involved we are at MACH Machine Tools with encouraging young people into engineering…we currently sponsor 28 colleges and training schools around the country, and amongst other activities, offer work experience places to youngsters from the Bristol area…we had the pleasure of having this young man from Castle School in Thornbury join for us his weeks work experience this week.

Corey told us when he came in that he thought he fancied a future career in engineering, after his week of working with our engineering, service and applications teams, his dad wrote us a fabulous email, thanking us for our time but importantly, went on to tell us that Corey loved his week with us and now was definitely going to go into engineering for his career! Job done! 👍

Thanks for the effort you put in Corey, we loved having you with us and you’re welcome to come back at anytime!

28/02/2024

The Vigilance Group in Bristol, is looking for an inside sales professional, to handle its incoming sales calls for the Group’s New and Used Machine Tool Divisions, MACH Machine Tools and Machine Tool Sales Online.

The ideal candidate will have a back ground in mechanical engineering, so will have the technical ability to talk to other engineers, have a good understanding of machine tools, both manual and CNC, will probably already be in a sales role, so will be an organised and friendly individual.

Joining the sales team in Bristol, you’ll take incoming enquiries, organise the quotation, follow up the sales lead, host the inevitable customer visit and help us to close the sale. Once ordered, you’ll work with our internal Operations Team to get the machine delivered and installed.

So a varied and interesting customer focused position, working for one of the country’s fastest growing machine tool suppliers.

Interested?? Then in the first instance, please send your CV to [email protected]

We look forward to hearing from you!

03/02/2024

So a bit of a sad Friday for us all at the Vigilance Group yesterday…

Anyone that’s either dealt with, or visited us in the past 7 years, will have met Helen Freke. She started as our Receptionist and Office Administrator, and quickly rose to become our Sales Office Manager. She was the most brilliantly organised and most efficient person you could wish to work with. She worked along our Group Managing Director during her time with us who described her as “his right arm”.

Well, yesterday we had to say goodbye and farewell to her, as she leaves us to begin a new life journey on the other side of the world. Her and her partner emigrate to Australia to start a new life in Adelaide at the end of February. We will most certainly miss this one, but know that she’s made the right decision and will of course be keeping in touch.

Being a very private girl, Helen requested a “no fuss send off” and asked that we just have a fish and chip Friday together, for the last time. (It was very scrummy too! Good choice Hel’s!)

All that’s left to say is; Helen. Thank you for being part of our family, thanks for the hard work, organisation, dedication and of course the fun and laughter over the years. The very best of luck to you both xx

23/01/2024

We’re often told by our potential customers that they dont know too much about our build partner, DynaPath, so thought this might be interesting for you.

Firstly, it’s clear that we are just scratching the surface of what DynaPath’s superb facility in Taichung can produce!

We were very impressed with the capability and the scale of the operation here. Just headline numbers: They produce and sell over 4000 control and drive packages for VMC, CNC turning, wire and sink EDM and stir welding machinery too. Not only that, but they also produce in excess of 2500 complete CNC machine tools and EDM machines per year!

We were delighted to see, first hand, the factory, the scale of the component stock holding and the quality of the build here…

We’ve included in the post a sneak preview of the new MACH DynaPath VMC’s that we passed off later today, but we thought that you might like to see some of their facility and capabilty that they have in house here, including, control and electrical cabinet design, R&D and assembly, frame machining, powder coating, machine build and test.

Further, following MACH’s successful launch in the UK market over the past 4 years for DynaPath products, we’re delighted to have signed a partnership agreement with DynaPath for MACH, and look forward to passing on the direct factory supply cost saving that that agreement will have in our markets in the UK and Europe.

19/01/2024

Matt and I have really been looking forward to this:

A trip to DynaPath’s factory in Taichung to pass off the 1st batch of new MACH MDV DynaPath Windelta controlled Vertical Machining Centres. Plus: Our 1st viewing of the new prototype slant bed lathes that we’ve designed with them too.

Nothing like a great build partner who support everything we do in the market.

We’ll post some sneak preview pictures of it all next week….see you on the other side as they say!

21/12/2023

To all of our customers, suppliers, industry partners and sub contractors, for both MACH Machine Tools and Machine Tool Sales Online, thanks for trusting us and supporting us again throughout 2023…425 machines sold this year across our new and used divisions, so it was another superb year for our Group, and that’s all thanks to you!

That said, as we lock up for the last time in 2023, we’d like to wish you all a very Happy Christmas, a restful break and a prosperous New Year. Hope to see you in 2024.

The Directors and Staff at the Vigilance Group Bristol. 🌲🌲🌲

(An unusual Christmas picture to send we know, but it’s a shot of the part MACH Machine Tool sponsored Triumph TR7 V8, that competed in this year’s Roger Albert Clark Rally…see the MACH Logo on the front bumper?!…plus it does have a Christmas tree in the picture too! 😁) Merry Christmas!!

07/12/2023

MACH Machine Tools were delighted to be invited to Sponsor the Hull Training and Adult Education learner awards, in the Guildhall Hull, tonight.

A superb event, in a beautiful location, surrounded by Apprentice learners, their families, industry partners and delivery staff from Hull College.

Our Group MD, David Andrew, attended the event with The Vigilance Groups’ Northern Area Manager, Jack Varley, to present the prestigious Higher Engineering Award to Richard Cartwright, a final year apprentice from Supercraft Ltd in Brough, with his mother, grandmother and Supercraft directors looking on.

Our congratulations to all of the nominees & winners at tonight’s awards.

24/11/2023

An interesting first day in the 2023 Roger Albert Clark rally for the DAE Engineering Triumph TR7 V8 yesterday.

In Special Stages 1 & 2, the gear selector got stuck in 4th gear! Chris Ingram managed to use the V8’s massive torque to get the car through the 2 stages (an almost unbelievable feat of driving, not to mention engine torque delivery too!) They made it to Service 1 where the DAE chase team found that a £1.50 selector bush had broken, and that despite it being a brand new gearbox! They changed it and got the car back out without a service time penalty!

With a full complement of gears to now choose, Chris didn’t hang about after that! He posted top section stage times in the next 4 stages and finished the day 4th fastest in the first of the night stages in SS7, ending the day 11th overall, so a fantastic come back!

Dave Appleby told us last night that they were delighted with the car now, but said that it’s taking a real punishment on the gravel stages. He said that they couldn’t believe the feedback and support they’re getting from the spectators throughout the day. After him spending his more recent years competing and prep’ing cars in GT3 and GT4 circuit racing, it’s definatley good for him to be back in the forests!

26 more forest road stages, with a little over 300 miles, still to go over the next 4 days, as they make their way towards Scotland, in what’s set to be one of the most gruelling rally’s seen in the UK for many years.

You can follow the rally live on YouTube and Facebook if you’d like to see, and better still, hear, the TR7 V8 roar through trees!!

Ends.

MACH Machine Tools PR.

21/11/2023

Any Rally fans on here?? Then read on…

Anyone that knows the people behind The Vigilance Group, the Bristol based machine tool and engineering supplies group, who own MACH Machine Tools and Machine Tools Sales Online, will know about the Andrew family’s connection to all things motorsport. If they’re not competing themselves, then they are supporting, sponsoring or watching anything racing that has an engine!

Today the Group announced that they have been selected to become technical partners, supporting DAE Engineering’s entry in this years RAC MRC British rally.

The car…a newly built, TR7 V8, has been ground up built, to exacting FIA standards, by David Appleby and his team in Wellington, using many suppliers that produced parts for Rovers Special Vehicles back in period. 3 cars have been built in total, with one being entered in this weeks RAC rally…a 5 day event, that will cover 33, night and day, forest stages, so a tough gig for any car and driver team!

The beautiful TR7 V8 ( a 330 BHP rear wheel drive monster ) will be driven by Chris Ingram, the 2019 European Rally Champion, and is supported by the full DAE chase crew, so a hugely talented team. Following forest testing last week, they have been tipped as “ones to watch”!

The rally will be covered by both YouTube and Facebook live…so drop in and watch, what’s set to be, a lively 5 days!

01/09/2023

New kids on the block?? Not anymore!

And…just like that, it’s 10 years and counting for our new division, MACH Machine Tools.

What a journey that’s been for us too! Growing from a single, and now iconic, black and silver turret type milling machine, the MACH VS-1, to a full range of manual and CNC machine tools, with more than 18 machine types in the range, from grinding machines to high speed machining centres, and all exclusive to MACH too! Our partnership with DynaPath control systems over the last 5 years has firmly put us on the map in the market place, and helped us to give our customers the very best customer service currently available in the sector, utilising the inbuilt Wi-Fi connectivity at the forefront of that support! If you’ve managed to miss what we’re doing, or where we’re going, then have a look at the website www.machmt.co.uk or give us a call. Everything we do is under power in our 25,000 sq ft Bristol showrooms.

Of course we must thank our fantastic customer base for the faith and continued business from you, none of this would be possible without your support, and it really is appreciated!

Here’s what one the industry editors has written, following a visit to Bristol last month…it sums it up very nicely! Here’s the next chapter!

Industry Editor comment:

The last ten years have been exciting and eventful for MACH Machine Tools.

The company’s product offering has increased significantly over the past 10 years. Its range of CNC machines is now exclusively DynaPath control system focused, with new products constantly being designed and brought to market by the firm. New VMCs and slant bed CNC lathes are due to be launched. MACH Machine Tools’ manual machine tool ranges continue to evolve too. A new Trainer Lathe series, aimed primarily at the education sector, came to market in mid 2022 for example.

Having successfully negotiated its way through the pandemic and now having a well-resourced service and spares, and applications infrastructure in place, means that the company is well positioned to meet its future sales growth objectives.

New sales positions created in the North of England and in the Midlands will increase market coverage and market share. Not only that but the company is about to announce details of its new stocking facility, showroom and sales office in the USA to meet anticipated demand from the North American market. (Watch this space for more news on the MACH USA).

So, never a company to rest on its laurels, MACH Machine Tools is now looking forward to the next ten years, starting off with the MACH 2024 Show in April where the company will be launch those new ranges of DynaPath-controlled VMC’s and slant-bed CNC DynaPath-controlled lathes.

With the company’s constantly evolving and improving product range, combined with its unswerving commitment to customer care and satisfaction, no-one in their right mind would bet against MACH Machine Tools being a huge success in the decade ahead.

25/07/2023

Having spent the past 12 months building its Service & Applications Departments for the Groups New & Used Machine Tool Divisions, MACH Machine Tools & Machine Tool Sales Online have announced their next strategic appointment.

Jack Varley has joined the Group as their new Northern Area Sales Engineer. Jack has spent his whole career with Nikken in Sheffield, working, at first, as an apprentice engineer, progressing into their applications, service and then sales teams, so he brings with him a wealth of experience.

Commenting from the showrooms in Bristol today, Matt Andrew, MACH Machine Tools’ Sales Director said, “ The most common complaint we hear when talking to new customers, is the cost of spare parts and wait times for engineers, so it was very important for us, not to get the chicken before the egg with regards to sales and service. We’ve invested heavily, not only in state of the art machinery & controls, but also in our Customer Help Desk, Wi-Fi enabled control systems for immediate remote support, spares stock holding and of course engineers too. Now that’s all in place, we can grow our market share, safe in the knowledge that our customers can be very well supported.

We’re delighted to have Jack in the Northern Territory. We’ve always done well in the North of England, but to have our own people working the region will, I’m sure, bring us some good results. This is a very exciting appointment for us.“

Matt went on to hint that he’ll be reporting more positive news from the Group next month, with the appointment of a new Midlands Area Sales Engineer.

Ends…

Editors image note:
Jack Varley is pictured in front of MACH-DynaPath’s flagship MDHS 65S… A 30,000 RPM, HSK direct drive spindle, high speed, double column, machining centre, that features DynaPath’s 10,000 block look ahead, 8Gb, 15.6” touch screen Wi-Fi enabled Windelta Control.

19/07/2023

So today, we marked the end of a 47 year career in engineering, with 37 of those years working in the machine tool industry, as Martin Leaper, accompanied by his wife Jane, visited us for his last day at the firm.

We put on a lunchtime spread, with a small presentation to mark the day, with all of his colleagues from both MACH Machine Tools & Machine Tool Sales Online.

Thanks for your efforts Martin, it’s been great to have your experience, not to mention your sense of fun, in the team. You will be missed here, but we wish you a very long, happy and healthy retirement.

As he left, he asked me remind his customers and industry friends, that his Vigilance email address and mobile number are still on! Just goes to show that you can’t keep an old salesmen down! So this is definitely just a fairwell and not a goodbye!

Martin is pictured here with his wife Jane alongside him, during his presentation from our Group Financial Director, Lisa Andrew

22/06/2023

End of an era!

Martin Leaper, our Midlands Area Sales Manager, is retiring at the end of the month. It’s a big loss to us and to the machine tool sector at large, and I know that many people, not just here at MACH Machine Tools and Machine Tool Sales Online (MTSO), will want to wish Martin all the best in the future.

Starting work in 1976, aged 16, at Automotive Products plc (Birmingham) as an apprentice toolmaker, Martin’s career, spanning 47 years, is impressive. He occupied a number of senior management positions at Bridgeport, Mikron, Matsuura and XYZ before joining us in November 2020.

As a stalwart of the machine tool industry and a familiar face at Metcut and MACH exhibitions, as well as EMO shows in Hannover, Milan and Paris, Martin’s experience and expertise, as well as his cheery disposition, will be sorely missed.

14/06/2023

MACH Machine Tools are all set up and ready for the next two days, to meet and chat to visitors at the Manufacturing Solution Ireland exhibition at the TUS Moylish Campus in Limerick. Matt and Sam, with a pair of MACH machines and of course, the DynaPath control, are looking forward to seeing you!

31/05/2023

Are you a salon, or mobile, qualified and experienced hairdresser, that would like to further your career?

Viva La Vida, a modern and highly regarded Salon in Stoke Lodge, North Bristol, is looking for a full time Salon Manager to take over the day to day running of the salon. You’ll still have your own clients too, but the managerial duties will include staff management and ongoing training, stock control, client retention and incentive programmes. All financials for the Salon are done off site by the Salon’s Parent Company, so you’ll report the daily income statements to the Financial Director on a weekly basis.

The salon is open from Tuesday to Saturday. You’ll enjoy a competitive salary package with 4 weeks paid holiday and enrolment into the Company’s Pension Scheme.

If you have excellent customer service skills, can work well in a team and you think you can help to make a difference, then in the first instance, please either email your CV or relevant experience to [email protected] or call the Salon on 01454 612083 and ask for Jess.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Team VLV xx

10/05/2023

As the Bristol based Vigilance Group’s new and used machine tool divisions (MACH Machine Tools and Machine Tool Sales Online) are now supplying in excess of 500 machines per year, the movement of machine tools and the additional customer services required for those sales has also grown to a point that a dedicated Operations Manager, to coordinate the Group’s activities, both at home and abroad, has become a necessity.

This morning, David Andrew, the Group
MD, announced the appointment of Aiden Evans to the position of Operations Manager.

Commenting from their head offices he said, “Aiden’s extensive experience in wholesale distribution, coupled with his obvious organisational skills swill undoubtedly make a huge difference to our efficiency and we look forward to his input over the coming months”

15/03/2023

A bit of good news for our industry in the budget today!

Full Expensing has been announced from 1st April for 3 years. It replaces the successful super-deduction that finishes at the end of March.

The new incentive will allow UK companies to write off 100% of the cost of investment in a new machine tool, in one go, against profits. Better still, and unlike super-deduction, investment into second-hand machinery, either bought or leased, will qualify for 100% relief via Annual Investment Allowance (AIA Relief).

Even the BBC struggled to find a negative angle with the announcement!

A win win for the Vigilance Groups’ customers buying either new MACH-DynaPath machinery, or a pre owned machine tool from the Groups used machine tool division, Machine Tool Sales Online.

21/10/2022

Not a machine tool related post, more of a business and environmental one from the Vigilance Group in Bristol today…

Following publishing the Group’s EMS Policy, (Envirommental Management System) as part of its ISO 14001 accreditation process, the Company has completed an investigation into waste and cost savings…as a result of the study, the Board approved a £250k budget to implement a green initiative, in an attempt to reduce the effect the Company has on the environment, while conducting its day to day business…a huge commitment to change from an SME!

As the Groups’ financial year comes to an end this month, it has reported changing 5 of its vehicles from diesel to full electric, installed 3 car chargers at the firms offices in Bristol, for use by both its employees and visitors alike, and is having a 22KWh, 66 solar panel system installed on the factory roof.

18 KWh Give battery packs are next on the firms shopping list.